1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with power generation and, more particularly, to turbines providing a rotational output in response to fluid flow relative to the turbine. The invention is contemplated for use in connection with electric power generators or power generating systems in general capable of utilizing the rotational power output from the described device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Turbines of various designs and configurations for providing a rotational output in response to fluid flow are well known in the art. However, prior art turbines are either orientation dependent to a fluid flow relative to the turbine, or are inefficient in providing power output due to induced parasite drag on working elements rotating against the fluid flow on a return stroke and due to working elements being exposed to low free stream velocities.
The present invention entails variable geometry impellers or working elements as part of a turbine-generator system. The variable geometry impellers are so constructed that points lying on an impeller or working element surface structure equidistant from a centroidal axis of said impeller and in a plane perpendicular to said axis, will have substantially 360.degree. on three dimensional interdependent symmetry of motion on operation during various stages of deployment and that they blossom or fold open into dominant expanded fluid impact surfaces when rotating with the flow field and collapse or contract into a closed folded configuration when rotating against the flow field. This action is designed to expose the greatest possible impeller surface area to the fluid flow when a working element rotates with the flow field and is thus dominant, and minimizes the parasite drag of an impeller surface area when a working element rotates against the flow field.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a rotational output of a single sense in response to fluid flow at any angle in a plane of rotation relative to the device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide impellers with surfaces that expand into dominant, preferably curved, surfaces and contract into minimally parasite drag configurations when rotating with and against the fluid flow field respectively.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fluid flow accelerator structure which is substantially the shape of a hollow toroid of general arbitrary cross-section, an embodiment of which is shown in the drawings, providing thereby open channel means about the exterior periphery of said fluid flow accelerator surface, and is substantially concentric and interior to a revolutionary path of the working elements in order to generate an increased and improved flow velocity field about said fluid flow accelerator body, which may be stationary or may rotate with respect to the fluid impact impeller working elements.